The Lions still aren’t saying whether rookie defensive end Ziggy Ansah suffered a concussion at some point in the past week or so. But there’s still no sign of the fifth overall pick in the draft. Via Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News, the latest evidence comes via Ansah’s absence from the team’s annual kickoff luncheon on Wednesday afternoon.

Ansah has missed three straight practices, and coach Jim Schwartz has exercised his prerogative to say nothing about any player injury prior to the Wednesday preceding the regular-season opener.

The Lions didn’t just run the ball well on Thursday against the Packers. They ran better than they had since Barry Sanders was in Detroit. According to the team’s website, the Lions’ 241 yards on the ground against the Packers represented the highest rushing output since the Lions gained 249 yards against the Colts on November 23, 1997.

The Lions and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh are talking about a contract extension that could make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. They’ll now have to take a break from the process. Per multiple league sources, Suh has fired his agents, Eugene Parker and Roosevelt Barnes. The NFLPA’s online database of players and agents currently omits Suh, which implies strongly that he has no representation.

Suh is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The second overall pick in the final year of the pre-rookie wage scale system, Suh has a cap charge for 2014 in excess of $22 million.

For three players in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the chance to become the ultimate winner is fueled by having already been part of the NFL’s ultimate loser.

Three members of the 2008 Lions, who went 0-16 are playing this week — Broncos linebacker Paris Lenon and center Manny Ramirez and Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril were all part of that special team which won none.

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was reportedly a problem within Detroit’s locker room last season, and getting Suh under control may be among the biggest tasks for new head coach Jim Caldwell. Heath Evans, the former NFL fullback turned FOX analyst, says three players on the Lions told him when he was working Lions games last season that Suh was a major headache.

Evans: “The consistent message that came out of there is that Suh was uncontrollable and that he would constantly do things to kind of show his power over Jim Schwartz, whether it was team meetings, showing up late, or whatever it may be. When you don’t put players in line, I don’t care how great they are. The bottom line is he would just do things to let the team know it was more or less Suh just trying to show his dominance, his power. That he was basically untouchable and he could basically do what he wanted to do.”

The Detroit Lions continue to create cap space by parting ways with players having recognizable names. Joining receiver Nate Burleson as a former member of the team is safety Louis Delmas. The team has announced that Delmas has been released. A second-round pick in 2009, Delmas signed a two-year deal to stay with the team in 2013. He appeared in every game last season, starting 15 times.

The move creates $6 million in cap space, via a $5.5 million base salary and $500,000 in bonus money. Like Burleson, Delmas instantly becomes a free agent. He can sign with any team, giving him a head start on free agency.

Per a league source, the Lions currently have roughly $121 million in 2014 cap commitments. With today’s moves, the Lions have created $11.5 million in cap space. Millions more could be created via an extension of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh’s rookie deal, which has a cap number in excess of $22 million.

Having good players can be a real pain, at least in terms of the salary cap. No team is more top-heavy in terms of the cap than the Lions.

According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Lions have $51.3 million worth of their cap tied up in quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Calvin Johnson and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, or roughly 39 percent of the $133 million cap for the entire team.

This is why the rookie wage scale and reduction of rookie contracts was a necessary component of the new CBA agreed upon in 2011.

I believe that Suh's draft class was the last class of the inflated rookie deals.

You could essentially screw yourself over if youre a perennial loser in the old system like the Lions were. Not only were they an awful team, the cap hit of having to take on such ridiculous rookie contracts is how they have three guys taking up 40% of the cap._________________